Toronto Maple Leafs Getting Closer to New Deal for Beloved Fourth-Liner

Free agency is going to be huge for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, especially with all of the rumors about the Leafs trading Mitch Marner to the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Although beyond the superstar, Leafs fans have also been curious about their fourth-liner, Steven Lorentz, who was brought in last season from the Florida Panthers.

Overall, Lorentz was as solid as can be on his one-year deal, with eight goals and 11 assists in 80 games. It's not a ton of production, but his role was never to be a scorer.

Fans have been hoping to hear some good news about a potential contract extension. Thankfully, today, fans got just that from insider Chris Johnston.

According to Johnston, the Leafs are working on a new deal for Lorentz, or at least, they are trying to figure out what is possible.

Free agency officially begins at noon tomorrow, and the team would prefer not to lose Lorentz for absolutely nothing. He contributed quite a bit last season, and he's a guy that head coach Craig Berube loved quite a bit.

If the Leafs can get Lorentz under contract, then that will be a nice tidy bit of business cleaned up before the clock strikes noon on July 1st.

However, if Lorentz walks, then we're sure the Leafs can find a viable replacement. There are plenty of low-cost guys who would want to play here.

Either way, general manager Brad Treliving is doing his thing, and you can't help but appreciate these efforts.